NYSAA Bulletin No. 52 — Archaic Sites: Croton Point & Dogan Point — Passage 15 (part 2)

[Various (1971)] The elevation of the sites is 1325-1330 ft. and thus falls within the flood pool created by the dam at Kinzua. The first area found and later excavated was called Witchs Walk #l. This area had not been previously discovered due to the extensive overburden, which varied from one to two ft. deep over most of the site. The second area, along the river bank, was called Witchs Walk #2. It was retested by the 1967 field crew, but due to the problems of overburden, lack of time and personnel, and lack of diagnostic artifacts, no major excavation was conducted in this area. Once the initial pits were relocated at Witchs Walk #1, a 100 ft. by 100 ft. grid was laid out in 10 ft, squares.

The excavation strategy was simply to expose as great an area of habitation as possible in the limited field session. The 10 ft, squares chosen for excavation were those which it seemed would contain evidence of settlement pattern or habitation. No attempt was made to sample adequately the entire sites for two reasons. First, the exact limits of the site were unknown. Secondly, the nature of the terrain and frequent flooding made work possible only in those areas of the site which were farthest from the river or of the highest elevation. Attempts to determine the limitation of the site during the 1967 field session were hampered by extensive rains, high water and the low elevation along the river banks.

In the fall of 1969, when the water level had dropped, further testing was done.